After CDC says N95 masks offer best protection against COVID, Roseville store selling them in big numbers

Call it the N95 gold rush.

"One after another, every five minutes, we have customers rolling in," says Willy Van Dooijeweert, the owner of the Urban Traveler store in Roseville.

Van Dooijeweert was busily unpacking boxes of the high-quality masks Saturday afternoon.

He says since the start of the pandemic, he’s sold thousands of N95s — but things have gotten much busier in recent days.

"We’re still selling the cloth masks, because people like to express themselves," Van Dooijeweert explains. "But now because of the recommendations of the CDC, they’re buying a ton of N95s and KN95s to put under theirs, or wear by themselves."

He says during the last three weeks, mask sales have surged to 40% of the store’s entire business.

Pre-pandemic sales of face coverings accounted for only about 1% of the store’s income, Van Dooijeweert says.

"People ask us also whether it’s a good idea to wear one of these N95s or KN95s under a regular mask," he notes. "And of course, the CDC has said that’s a good thing to do."

The Centers for Disease Control has now upgraded its guidance, saying any mask is better than none.

The agency is now pointing out that N95 and KN95 masks offer the best protection.

"Good masks are now critical," says Joe Kurland, an infection disease prevention expert at Children’s Minnesota. "We really want to encourage individuals to move away from cloth masks, or homemade masks, or even fabric masks you buy in the stores."

He and other experts say with the rise of the omicron variant, cloth masks don’t cut it.

Why?

Researchers say cloth is not a good safeguard against the high transmissible omicron — and they add multiple cloth layers are hard to breathe through.
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"The cloth material is not very good at capturing especially small particles," explains Dr. Lisa Brosseau, a University of Minnesota infectious disease expert. "Then you want to have a filter that’s easy to breathe through."

Kurland says the N95s are able to do both: breathability — and better protection for you and the people around you.

"The N-95 masks really do a much better job at sealing all around the face," he says. "And making sure you are protected when you’re breathing in, not just protecting what you breathe out."

President Biden says a plan is in the works to distribute N95 masks for free.

The president says the U.S. has tripled its stockpile of N95s — and that Americans would receive a package of three masks.

"We all wish we could be finally done with wearing masks, I get it," Mr. Biden says. "They’re a really important tool to stop the spread, especially of the highly transmissible omicron variant."

The president says he’ll release details about the plan next week.

The White House says if the legislation needed to make that happen passes, the masks could be delivered to U.S. households in a matter of weeks.

Meanwhile, Van Dooijeweert says while his sales of N95s and KN95s are on the rise, sales of cloth masks have fallen.

But he doesn’t seem to mind.

"The gold standard is now the N95," he declares. "The last two weeks have just been wild."